Page 37 of Bewicched

“One morning, I’d left the house to walk the half mile to the town center and get breakfast. The house I was renting was on its own, at the edge of the woods. It was adorable and had an attached barn that had been rehabbed into a studio. The light was magical. I loved that place.

“Anyway, the first part of the walk is on a narrow lane with forest on both sides. That morning, when I walked across a short bridge over a fast green river, two fae goons appeared on either side of me. They grabbed me and slid between the realms, using Faerie to slingshot us to the north of Wales.”

Declan flinched as though he wanted to interject but thought better of it.

“As you can see, I’m fine.”

“No. I mean, you had no problem spelling me out the door and into the ocean. Why didn’t you spell them?” he asked.

“Oh, I did. The fae are made of magic more powerful than mine. Mom probably would have held her own. My spells slid right off them. Mind you, I was able to hear their every thought, knew the plan, who had sent them, and what was about to happen, but I couldn’t hurt them, which really pissed me off.

“Anyway, they brought me to this huge old brick manor house owned by a vampire. The fae were working with this vampire who liked to drink from supernatural creatures.

“They threw me in a cell in her dungeon because being part fae, I qualified as dinner. They didn’t pick up on the wicche half, because goons, fae or not, aren’t the brightest of the bunch. Anyway, every time they grabbed me, shoved me, smacked me, I was picking up information through their touch. By the time they locked me in, I understood the operation and wasn’t going to wait for nightfall when the vampire came.

“It was all more of the fae king’s bullshit. He was using the vampire to destabilize Faerie, thereby weakening his wife.” I shook my head. “Just divorce already. Why drag all these innocent people into your marital issues?

“Anyway, I waited until the guards moved to a different part of the dungeon, cast a spell on the lock, and walked out.” I rolled my eyes. “Dumbasses.”

Declan’s grin was infectious, and I laughed.

“I know. Of course, then I was lost in Wales, but I eventually made my way to a farm house and a phone. The goons knew enough to crush my cell phone, but they hadn’t bothered with my wallet, so I called for a car to pick me up and drive me home.

“I added a shit ton of protections to the little house and studio, and they never came back. Honestly, though, they probably just forgot about me. It didn’t feel as though it was target-specific, more that they’d just happened upon someone half fae, so they took me.”

“Unbelievable,” he said, shaking his head.

“And yet all true.” I checked my phone. What was taking Mom and Gran so long?

“How does that relate to the Quinn wolf and the chess set?”

“Oh,” I began, returning my phone to my hoodie pocket, “she was like a fae chew toy they were fighting over, the king grabbing and trying to kill, the queen sort of helping—though, honestly, just leaving it up to Sam to rescue herself. Anyway, Sam and her vampires were hunting the bad vampire—and really, aren’t they all?—because she’d apparently been doing a lot of evil vampire shit. Sam and her crew were trying to rescue the bloodsucker’s prisoners—one dragon in particular—and my information from the abduction helped them know who was involved and where to find them.”

“Nice,” he said, sounding impressed.

“Thanks, but they’d already discovered some of it. My help hopefully got them there faster. I don’t know, but that dragon didn’t have much longer to live. “

My phone finally buzzed in my pocket. I grabbed it and hitaccept.

“We’re ready,” Mom said.

Declan turned on the engine.

“We’re on our way. Thanks, Mom.”

“Mhmm.”

Notyou’re welcome, justmhmm. Mom had drummed proper etiquette into me from an early age. The fact that she’d given me a sound of vague agreement instead of the words meant something was up. They weren’t doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. This was a negotiation.

As I gave Declan directions to Gran’s, I hoped I was reading it wrong, that she was just distracted. I didn’t think so, though.

Declan surprised me by seeing the break in the trees and pulling in. Gran and Mom, expressions stony, stood in the center of the small circular driveway. Declan reached for the door and then stopped, looking back and forth between my family and me.

“What am I missing?” he asked.

My window was still rolled down, so I raised my voice, staring my mom straight in the eyes. “Nothing at all. Just two cold-hearted women who would leverage my safety to get what they want.”

“Not justyoursafety, darling,” my mother responded.

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